Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Vintage Baking - Ginger buns

I've been trying out some recipes from my new wartime recipe book.
It was published in New Zealand by the Self help co. and is called 'Making your rations go further'.
It is comprised of baking recipes that are split into several categories based on the quantities of eggs and butter etc.
Rationing in New Zealand differed from Britain in that it was introduced to create an excess of food not due to a shortage, the main portion being for export to the Allied forces. For example from May 1943 onwards the consumption of fresh pork was prohibited in New Zealand due to the high demand for the meat from American troops in the Pacific.
Though New Zealand had a large dairy industry, butter was still heavily rationed to supply forces fighting in Europe, making butter precious (margarine was prohibited from importation in New Zealand earlier in the 30s due to concerns from the dairy industry of it undermining the value of butter) though it came into question, this law was never relaxed during the war and civilians had to try and supplement their fat ration by saving dripping, which some of these recipes use.

Well, enough of the background.

The recipe I used was for gingerbread fruitcake, which I altered in some respects.
Firstly I am Gluten Free, secondly I used preserved stem ginger instead of the other fruit and added a dash of cinnamon. Finally I decided on it being in a drop bun form instead of a cake as I was making them to take on a picnic =)

I substituted 7oz each of Almond flour, Gluten free flour mix and Gluten free pastry mix which is my golden trio, it gives the perfect balance for most baking.

When my mum first gave me these scales I though, they're cute but damn they're in lbs and oz, until I remembered most of my cookbooks are vintage ;)

The finished buns, they look all prickly like little hedgehogs =)

I'm really happy with how they turned out, I'll definitely be making them again in future!

1 comment:

Hey, that's interesting what you found out. I like your table decoration as well. This silver cloche is marvellous. Last autumn I made fruit bread and apple bread myself. It was so delicious and I was pretty happy how it turned out. Maybe you want to see the pictures and recipes here:http://mapletrueheart.blogspot.de/2012/10/another-autumnal-fruit-bread.htmlhttp://mapletrueheart.blogspot.de/2012/10/autumnal-apple-bread-for-my-parents.htmlhttp://mapletrueheart.blogspot.de/2012/10/quince-bread-and-apple-bread.htmlHope you like it.

About Me

A self taught seamstress, I enjoy reproducing art deco era fashions. I love all eras, but am particularly fond of the 30's, fashion, history, architecture, interiors, furniture...the list goes on and on. I enjoy knitting, sewing, cooking and generally learning and creating new things. I am endeavoring to work up to living a vintage inspired lifestyle and enjoying every minute of it! ;)